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Fighting terrorism
October 26, 2001

There is a new law in the United States designed to catch terrorists and other criminals.

Signed by President Bush on Friday, the new "anti-terrorism" bill gives police and intelligence agencies (like the FBI) many new powers that they haven't had before.

Passed in record time

Right after the September 11 attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft asked Congress for stronger law enforcement abilities. The bill that passed does not include all the original proposals, but does give law enforcement a much wider net to fight crime.

The final version of the bill was approved in the Senate by a vote of 98-1 on Thursday, 24 hours after it cleared the House of Representatives 357-66.

Major legislation usually takes several months, if not years, to be approved. This one shot through Congress in less than six weeks at the urging of the Bush administration, even though critics say it poses a threat to civil liberties.

"This law will give intelligence and law enforcement officials new tools to fight a present danger," President Bush said.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who support individual freedom and privacy think this bill gives too much power to the government to watch over ordinary citizens.

Lawmakers, worried about possible abuse of the new wiretapping and surveillance powers, said if the powers are still needed in four years, a new vote is required.

Making it harder to be a terrorist

The bill makes it a crime to hide or provide shelter to a known terrorist and lets the government hold foreigners suspected of terrorism for up to seven days before charging them with a crime.

The Bush administration wanted to be able to hold them indefinitely, but Congress refused.

The law also allows law enforcement to get a subpoena to get the e-mail transmissions of suspected terrorists from Internet providers like AOL.

Besides e-mail, another way investigators gather evidence is to use a "wiretap," which allows law enforcement to listen in and record telephone conversations.

The new anti-terrorism legislation allows federal authorities to obtain permission for "roving wiretaps," which would allow them to tap any phone a suspected terrorist might use rather than a single phone.

The bill also triples the number of patrol agents between Canada and the United States.

Lastly, the bill gave the U.S. Treasury more power to target foreign countries and banks that might be assisting terrorists by hiding their money for illegal purposes.

What do you think? How do you feel about the government's ability to read e-mail and listen to phone conversations? Do you feel more secure or less secure?